Wife is now an Independant Contractor--Help!

[Yak18]

Hi guys I know that one of you knows the ins and outs of being an Independant Contractor and request your help on some tax questions. I have read all the IRS mumbo jumbo and all they really tell you is what an IC is and that they have to pay taxes! Duhh! What I need to know is how to calculate the taxes and where and when do I send the checks. Can Turbo tax do this? Is there another program that does this? I have signed up for EFTPS but all that does is set up direct deposit to the IRS leaving me wondering how much do I send and will it go to all the agencies it needs to go to? EFTPS is really for paying off a big tax bill. I am confused and the wife says go see a Tax guy...but I'm too proud for that. Please help.

[TomM]

See a tax guy !
For 30 years I did my own taxes, then life changes...sell and buy houses, divorce, start my own business. Too much info for me to process. For a hundred or so, you'll know what to do and sleep easier.

[Treetop]

This is a good reference:

http://www.amazon.com/Small-Time-Business-Operator-10th/dp/0917510283/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245749702&sr=8-1

Basically she needs to make quarterly payments to the IRS which include estimated income tax as well as self employment tax, (which is the same thing as SS and Medicare, but you pay both halves, making this around 15% of "profits"). She may also qualify for more deductibles, since she is basically operating as a business. This book goes into the different categories such as sole proprietor or incorporation. A very good guide recommended to me way back when from a good businessman, I used it to guide me through starting and running my own business and the ex wife used it to start her business.

What I did also was to hire a CPA to do my taxes the first year. This will give you a basic idea of what all is involved, and will make sure you haven't left out anything important, and it is deductible. After the first year of getting this help, doing my own books and taxes was fairly easy.